‘ Students who read succeed’

By Coquesa Dotson

Joseph Trimble is generous with his time, and he enjoys traveling to do storytelling. On March 1, 2023, the students and the community of Packard’s Bend, Alabama, had the honor to host him for an hour of storytelling featuring Black History at Monroe Intermediate School (MIS).

Trimble captured and maintained the students’ attention with the stories of The Pullman Porters and Rosa Parks. He also told a fable about a wolf and an owl to teach the theme of not being gullible to peer pressure. The students were inspired to read more because as he shared “students who read, succeed”.

Trimble explained that to him, R.E.A.D signifies “Right to Read, Earn your place through reading, Advocate for yourself, and Dream, Decide, and Do”.

Trimble is a native of Chicago, Illinois, who has been living and serving in the Montgomery, Alabama, area since 1981. He is married to Dr. Jacqueline Trimble, and they have three children, Joshua, Joseph David II, and Jasmine Trimble Pugh (Elijah). Motivated by the work that he has done with the Department of Youth Services, teaching history at the college and K-12 levels, and serving in the community, he pursued his talent in writing and storytelling.

Trimble is as a published author of children's books, including The Fisherman, The Farmboy and the Watermelon Patch, Marty Makes a Difference and Marty and the Million Man March. He is also a professional storyteller, who has performed at schools and other venues in and outside Alabama. He enjoys telling fables, fairy tales, and folk tales, but his favorites are original stories, which are drawn from his own experiences and his imagination.

Monroe Intermediate School’s administration would like to express gratitude to Dr. Mark Wilson, the director of Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities College of Liberal Arts, at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, for making this experience possible.

If it were not for stakeholders in education, such as Dr. Wilson, reaching out to schools, this experience would not have been possible for MIS students. Being a small rural school, with little funding, many times additional learning opportunities are not possible for our students.

Therefore, whenever instances present themselves for MIS students, the administration takes advantage of them. MIS looks forward to partnering with Auburn University (War Eagle!) again in the future.

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